Russian Hackers Are Using Wi-Fi Routers To Hack Into Homes And Government Offices

Cyber attacks being carried out by Russian hackers seems like a news that started floating around decades ago. Time and again, we have come across instances where the US government has warned its people about the danger that Russian hackers carry. Now, a new security alert has identified that hackers are now using large numbers of routers, switches, and other network devices that are well past their last security update to compromise US homes, government offices, businesses, and critical infrastructure providers.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security and FBI and the UK’s National Cyber Security [...]

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Anonymous and Technology: A Hoax or Call for Revolution?

As Slater’s character says in USA’s Mr. Robot, “It controls you and everyone you care about… Money…It’s become virtual. Software –the operating system of our world”, technology truly has become a force to reckon with. It’s interesting to see how the definition of technology and all that it entails has evolved over time, eventually becoming a magical entity which suddenly made information on the remotest of topics available just a simple click away.

In an attempt to move away from the fictional world of TV shows to the domain of international politics, one wonders how different Anonymous’ taking down of the Israeli websites in response to their attack on Palestinian cyber space [...]

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5 million Gmail Passwords Leaked, Google Assures it’s “No Big Deal”

In times when people are still dealing with the news of the massive iCloud hack, they woke up this morning to the news of another giant leak. This time it was Google Accounts turn. Russian hackers have leaked about 4.93 million Gmail passwords. You can access the entire Google ecosystem using just one password and this was seen as a cause of worry.

The account details were leaked on a Bitcoin forum called btcsec.com by a user named Tvskit. The leaker claimed 60% of these accounts were active.

Google immediately slammed the claim. It tried to calm the fears with a blog post that said [...]

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Microsoft Pays Out First $100,000 Bounty For Finding Windows 8.1 Bug

Today, Microsoft announced one researcher, James Forshaw, has been awarded a whopping $100,000 for finding and reporting a new mitigation bypass exploit in Windows 8.1.

James Forshaw, who heads vulnerability research at London-based security consulting firm Context Information Security, won Microsoft’s first US$100,000 bounty for identifying a new “exploitation technique” in Windows, which will allow it to develop defenses against an entire class of attacks, the software maker said on Tuesday.

Forshaw earned another US$9,400 for identifying security bugs in a [...]

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Hacking experts find new ways to attack Android phones

Hacking experts have demonstrated ways to attack Android smartphones using methods they said work on virtually all such devices in use today, despite recent efforts by search engine giant Google to boost protection.

Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano declined to comment on the security concerns or the new research.

Accuvant researcher Charlie Miller demonstrated a method for delivering malicious code to Android phones using a new Android feature known as near field communications. “I can take over your phone,” Miller said.

Near field communications allow users to share photos with friends, make payments or exchange [...]

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Microsoft India Store hacked, Passwords were stored in plain text

The Microsoft India Store was hacked in India earlier today and users who visited the site were met with a “Anonymous” like image and the name of the hacker group called Evil Shadow Team, who, in addition to putting a new face on Windows products, revealed that user passwords were saved in plain text.

The intentions of the group are unknown , but since the attack the site has gone down and is now under tinkering from Microsoft for improved security measures.

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Apple iOS 4.3.4 will Fix the Jailbreak and Security Flaws.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he PDF exploit that was used in JailreakMe last year which allowed a one tap Jailbreak and a fast unlock for users. Apple had fixed the flaw in its early stages and now its back. Looks like that is the reason for the quick iPad 2 Jailbreak and the new exploit the Jailbreakers have been enjoying. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple acknowledged the exploit, and is working on an update. The said update will not only fix the JailbreakMe 3.0 exploit but also another exploit that could allow unwanted eyes to your information.

[Wall Street Journal]

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After 50 days of Hacking ; LulzSec Retires

On Saturday, the hacking group LulzSec, aka the Lulz Boat, said that it was ceasing operations. In what the group said was its final act, LulzSec also released a fresh set of stolen documents and files.

[quote]For the past 50 days we’ve been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. said the group in a statement[/quote]

The group made its name after attacking a [...]

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Governments vs Hackers – Cyberwar Continues #AntiSec

The AntiSec Campaign which started a few days ago as a partnership between hacker groups LulzSec and Anonymous, is a cat and mouse game between the hackers and the governments they target. One member of LulzSec, Ryan Cleary, a 19 year old from Wickford, Essex, UK, is suspected by authorities to be a leader of the group as well as being the brains behind the attacks on the FBI, CIA and Sony sites. He was arrested by British Police yesterday in a “pre-planned intelligence raid”. He has allegedly performed these acts from a computer in his mother’s house.

In another part of the world, the Brazilian wing [...]

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Anonymous and LulzSec Announce New Campaign

The two most famous hacker groups in recent times have united in a campaign which they call AntiSec. The targets include banks, government organizations, and other high profile targets. They are urging hackers from around the world to unite to steal and leak classified documents, e-mails, and other information. [quote]We hear our #Anonymous brothers are making progress with #AntiSec, we also have reports of many rogue hacker groups joining in. :D[/quote] the group tweeted a few hours ago.

The campaign seems to have hit its first official target target today. The website of UK based Serious Organised Crime Agency was [...]

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SEGA – The Latest Victim of Hackers

SEGA Corp, makers of games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Comic Zone, was the victim of a large scale attack on its Sega Pass website. The database of its Europe based website has been hacked and the personal information of all its 1,290,755 registered users has been stolen.

On Friday, the company sent an e-mail to all the affected users, who are mostly based in Europe and North America, that their member’s e-mail ids, dates of birth and encrypted passwords were obtained, however no payment details were compromised as the company used external payment providers. The company also warned users that if they used the [...]

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LulzSec Reveals Motives Behind its Hacks (PR)

LulzSec has been on a hacking rampage for a while now. On reaching a 1000 tweet milestone, they have decided to reveal their motives to friends and foes alike in a Press Release they posted on PasteBin.